


Growing Pains

by peggyrose19



Category: Harry Potter - Fandom
Genre: Boarding School AU, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mutual Pining, The Marauders - Freeform, james and sirius are friendship goals, mentions of violence and past abuse, peter isn't a traitor, the blacks are still little shits
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-01-04
Packaged: 2021-03-14 03:07:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28538574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peggyrose19/pseuds/peggyrose19
Summary: Sirius Black was a troublemaker. It was a well-known fact throughout his school, and tales of his pranks circulated weekly, becoming more exaggerated with each retelling. Rumors grew and spread like wildfire, little white lies mixed in with the barest hint of truth. The only people who knew the full truth about the infamous Sirius Black were his three best friends, James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. And they knew that he was nothing like the image their school saw.The modern boarding school AU no one asked for. In which Sirius and Remus are pining for each other and Sirius is a little shit about it, Slughorn teaches chemistry and McGonagall teaches algebra, James is oblivious and in love with a redheaded beauty, and Peter isn't a traitor but actually a good friend. It centers around the Marauders navigating high school and feelings, featuring Wolfstar mainly, with some Jily thrown in there cause why not.
Relationships: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 4
Kudos: 20





	Growing Pains

**Author's Note:**

> Hi folks! Thank you for clicking on this fic. Just wanted to add a warning that, while there's not graphic descriptions of violence, there will be some past abuse and violence mentioned in a few chapters. It's pretty imperative to the story, but you can probably skip over those parts if needed. Stay safe everyone. Hope you enjoy, and thanks for reading!

Sirius Black was a troublemaker. It was a well-known fact throughout his school, and tales of his pranks circulated weekly, becoming more exaggerated with each retelling. Rumors grew and spread like wildfire, little white lies mixed in with the barest hint of truth. The only people who knew the full truth about the infamous Sirius Black were his three best friends, James Potter, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew. And they knew that he was nothing like the image their school saw.

Most people at his school would say they knew him quite well, knew the way he talked and dressed and walked. They knew his pranks and his friends, and they knew his easy smile and infectious laugh. But they didn’t know about the pain behind the smile, the scars he hid with his leather jacket and eyeliner and long hair. They didn’t know the number of times he awoke in the night from nightmares that were real, and had to wake his friends before he could sleep again. On the outside, Sirius Black was a prankster and a smartass, a young man who believed himself better than his peers. On the inside, Sirius was someone who had never experienced a true childhood, a young boy who hid his pain behind jokes and pranks.

Sirius and James met their first year of boarding school when they were assigned as roommates. The two quickly became friends, Sirius falling quickly for James' charming smile and care-free attitude. That first year of school, they got in trouble often for pranks they pulled together, coming up with them in the wee hours of the morning when Sirius would wake up shaking and James tried desperately to keep his mind off his family. James became the first person who knew what went on in the Black family estate, the first person Sirius trusted enough to tell the truth.

Remus Lupin was a perfectionist. He was a literary nerd at heart, often hiding behind a book, old and worn, read through many times before. His schoolwork was immaculate, but he was the kind of person who had to work hard to earn the grades he received. Often, the world only saw what he wanted them to see. They saw his lanky frame and tousled brown hair that led to the assumption of innocence. They saw the books he read and the notes he took and the pranks his friends pulled. James, Sirius, and Peter were the only three people who knew what lurked below the surface, kept purposefully hidden from the rest of the school.

Very few people at his school knew who Remus was, outside of his friendship with James Potter and Sirius Black. That was all he was to them, a quiet boy friends with the pranksters on campus. What they didn't know was that he was the brains behind these operations, often coming up with the ideas or providing that one crucial piece of information needed for a truly successful prank. Although quiet, he stood up for everyone —except himself—and would fight anyone who said so much as a bad word about someone. It earned him a reputation as someone you didn't want to cross, someone who held a grudge like no other and held everyone to very high standards, ones they often failed to meet. He hid his low self-esteem behind sarcastic comments, and hid his dry humor behind books.

Living across the hall, Remus and Peter also met their first year of boarding school as roommates, their own room much neater and calmer than their neighbor's room. All four of them met that first day of school and, while Remus was much quieter and Peter a little slower, they somehow fit right in with the boisterous energy James and Sirius created. Their closeness could be attributed to a shared dislike of studying, causing trouble, and snarky comments, as well as sleepless nights when insomnia hit. It became rare to see one without another, and the four of them often roamed the grounds as a pack; if not causing trouble, they were in their common room, coming up with trouble or avoiding homework. By the second month of school, they were so close one would think they'd known each other for years.

~

Junior year for the Marauders started out fairly normal, as normal as it could be. Being a junior meant more pressure, more homework, and more responsibilities. It meant AP classes and SAT books and college prep. Remus was a prefect and James was lacrosse captain. All four were focused on their classes, perhaps more than ever before. Even the pressure of college and the future didn't stop their antics entirely, however. By the third week of school, James and Sirius had already pulled two and a half pranks (they got caught halfway through the third) and been given detention twice. But the boys had grown up over the summer, each in their own ways, and they had all come back a little different than they had left. Sirius came back with more scars, James came back with more humility, Peter came back with more confidence, and Remus came back with a secret. A certain change had come over all them over the summer, and that year would end up changing the course of their lives.

~

"Hey, we got that math assignment from Minnie due tomorrow," James called out from where he was lounging on the sofa of the common room, scrolling through his phone. Remus sat next to him, nose buried in a book, while Sirius and Peter played a complicated-looking card game at the table a few feet away.

"Shit." Peter looked up from the game. "I haven't finished that yet, I gotta do that."

"Oh, c'mon Pete," Sirius complained he stood up. "At least finish the game."

"Sirius, this game is going to take forever. I don't have time, sorry. Maybe if I finish quickly." Peter sent his friend an apologetic smile and scurried down the hallway to his room.

"Well, now what am I supposed to do?" Sirius pouted, abandoning the game and turning to his other two friends. Remus barely looked up.

"You could do that chem work that's also due tomorrow."

"Eh."

"Sirius, you're going to fail if you don't do the homework," Remus reminded him, glancing at him over the top of his book. Sirius waved away his concern. James continued looking at his phone.

"Nah, Slughorn loves me." Horace Slughorn, their chemistry teacher, was a large, balding man in his sixties who had been teaching at their school for over 35 years; he'd once been a student there and had loved it so much, he had come back to teach after college.

"Maybe, but even he can't just fake your homework grades. You need to do it."

"Ugh, fine." He sighed heavily and clambered to his feet. "But you're helping me."

He pointed at Remus as he left the room. "You don't need my help, you lazy ass!" Remus called after him. He chose to ignore the possibly inappropriate gesture Sirius made behind his back, instead going back to his book.

"Could he actually fail?" James asked once Sirius was out of sight. Remus gave up and put his book down.

"He could. But he won't." James frowned, unconvinced. "You know him. He always finishes his work, even if he pretends he's too cool to. He cares too much. Plus, he's way too smart to fail. We know it, he knows it. He'll get it done."

"Yeah, okay." He opened his mouth to say something else, but Peter appeared in the doorway, clutching a geometry textbook and his laptop.

"Oh, you're back." Peter sighed, setting his things down on the table.

"Yeah, I just had to go to the bathroom first. Now, can you please help me with this?"

"Sure." James discarded his phone and went to sit next to Peter. A moment later, Sirius reappeared as well, with his chemistry textbook and a notebook in hand. He plopped down next to Remus, who watched him tiredly.

"You alright, Re?" Sirius asked quietly.

"I was trying to read," he replied irritably. "But apparently _someone_ needs help." Sirius sent him a crooked smile. "I don't really believe him," Remus continued, "seeing as he's smarter than me. But I guess algebra just isn't his thing."

"Sorry." He didn't sound very sorry at all. "But I actually do need your help with this."

"Alright, fine" Remus sighed, scooting closer so he could see the book.

Sirius pulled the pencil out of his hair then and black hair tumbled down to brush his shoulders. Remus watched him closely, trying to pretend he wasn't. Sirius caught his eye and Remus quickly looked away, cheeks flushing. He gestured at the textbook, clumsily clearing his throat.

"What do you need help with?"

"This question here." Sirius pointed to the textbook. "I don't get what it's asking." Remus skimmed the book before reaching for Sirius' pencil.

"May I?"

"Oh, here." He handed over his pencil and notebook, already flipped open to a clean page.

Neatly, Remus wrote out the problem, explaining the different variables and the equation, what numbers to plug in where and when. Sirius listened intently as his friend explained it to him, nodding every once in a while when Remus glanced over to see if he was following.

"That's all it is?" he asked finally, looking at Remus incredulously. Remus smiled a little.

"Yeah, it's pretty simple. Slughorn just isn't the best at explaining sometimes."

"I'll say. Thanks, mate. That really helped."

"No problem," Remus replied faintly. He turned back to his book as Sirius continued onto the next problem. But although his eyes skimmed the page, his mind was stuck on Sirius. Because Remus might have seemed like a shallow, open book to everyone, as quiet as he was.

But he had a secret, one no one knew about. Even his best friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am going to try to post chapter updates semi-regularly, but I can make no promises. I'm very busy with school, dance, and work so life is hectic sometimes. If you want an update on the next chapter or have any questions, feel free to shoot me an ask on tumblr at peggyrose19, I'm always happy to answer! Again, thanks for reading! Love you all <3


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